As a USC honk I can honestly tell you that I don't know the answer to that question 'gator.
I didn't watch him very much two season's ago when he played at OU. And last season, I don't believe that USC played any defense on par with the upper echelon SEC teams. They did play Utah (who definitely wants to rough you up), but they don't have same size/speed combinations of players that will allow a DC to do some exotic things to confuse a QB.
So, I don't know how he'll perform in that aspect.
With that said...
He's the only reason why USC even sniffed the CFP last year. As opposed to alyo's opinion, I don't believe that USC had a very good team last year - especially on defense.
Offensively, he's in synchronous harmony with his HC/OC; he had a 1st Round WR; and, a couple of solid (not great) college RB's. That's it. IMO, his OL was atrocious as they could neither run block or pass protect well. When things broke down, he was frequently running for his life. Fortunately for him, he IS slippery and keeps his head up to look for open receivers. But he took some hits which def slowed him down by the end of the year.
Via the transfer portal, USC does have a better overall team this year, but is still lacking the cohesion that you'll see with players who have been together for 2+ years.
I'm looking to see if he can leverage this better talent to better pick and choose when he puts his cape on. I recall Sam Darnold's season after his Rose Bowl victory over Penn St. and he seemed to be caught in a situation where he felt that every play HAD to be spectacular instead of simply taking what the defense gave him (or even throwing the ball away when the defense dialed up the right coverage). This led to a lot of INT's that he never shook. I'm hoping that Williams can avoid this.
I definitely see a little Mahomes in him, but not so much Lamar Jackson or Josh Allen who have superior overall physical skills (Jackson - running & Allen - arm talent).
I think that McVay would LUV him.
Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 08/29/2023 06:27PM by ramBRO.
